Shares of major Asian petchem firms higher on surge in equities

06 March 2013 06:46[Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Shares of major petrochemical firms in Asia were largely higher on Wednesday, tracking the surge in regional equity markets after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) spiked to a record high at the close.

The DJIA rose by 125.95 points, which was a 0.89% increase, and closed at 14,253.77 on Tuesday.

Expectations of a strengthening US economy and China’s promise to keep to its growth target of 7.5% this year encouraged investors to take more risks.

“A confluence of factors helped stroke risk-taking activities, but chief among them was the belief that the major central banks of the world will continue to juice the financial markets with their ultra-loose monetary policies,” said Singapore’s UOB Economic-Treasury Research.

At 14:11 hours Singapore time (06:11 GMT), shares of South Korea’s LG Chem rose by 0.70%, while those of Lotte Chemical Corp – formerly Honam Petrochemical – were up by 0.58%. The Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI Index (KOSPI) was up by 0.20% at 2,020.74.

In Hong Kong, China’s Sinopec Corp was up by 0.90%, while state-owned refining firm PetroChina surged by 2.10%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (HIS) was up by 0.95% at 22,771.72.

Malaysia’s Petronas Chemicals Group was up by 0.16%, while Thailand-based producer PTT Global Chemical rose by 0.33%.

Japanese chemical firms bucked the trend, with Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings down by 0.23% and Mitsui Chemicals unchanged. The Nikkei 225 was up by 1.84% at 11,898.71.